My family and I moved to West Lafayette approximately three years ago from metropolitan New York/New Jersey after tiring of the daily grind, and ever increasing cost of living both of which made it nearly impossible to ever get ahead or have any quality of life. Upon arriving we settled into a rental home, my husband started his dream job at Purdue, and our daughter started kindergarten. Shortly thereafter my one and a half year old son and I visited and interviewed practically every child care center in the Greater Lafayette area, including MSGL. At that time, several nice new neighbors, as well as our landlord, raved about MSGL; however, the programs and number of hours offered were not a good fit for us because I was looking for all day care. As soon as my son was three I was back at MSGL signing him up for summer camp and praying he would be accepted in the fall of 2012.

Since that time, our son has been in Anita and Dilya’s morning pre-primary class, lunch bunch and all day care with Mary and Cathy. We could not be more pleased with the quality of care he receives. He is accepted and encouraged to be his own unique self and to discover and respect the world around him in his own time and way, with gentle, loving, and nurturing guidance from teachers who are genuinely invested in the future success of his being.

Over the past two and a half years I have enjoyed participated in spring and fall cleanups as well as the annual family picnic. These events especially bring a sense of community to the school, and offer us all the opportunity to meet and get to know each other better. Last summer, I also volunteered to water the flowers and gardens not knowing what a great sense of pride my son would have in taking care of his school. I have also volunteered in various other ways such as recycling.

More recently, I was asked by the Board to replace the previous treasurer upon her resignation. I did not hesitate to accept the position as this is where my experience and skills can best serve the MSGL community. I am a CPA and have spent my entire career (nearly 20 years) in public accounting. The first half of my career was spent doing traditional tax, accounting and auditing type work. The second half has been much more interesting and I specialize in providing business valuation and forensic accounting services.

Over the past year I have devoted countless hours to gaining an understanding of the history of the organization as well as the historical financial operations, and worked with MSGL administrative staff, board and committee members to approve a realistic bare bones budget that will guide us through the 2014-2015 school year.

Although serving as treasurer over the past year has been a lot of hard work, I have truly enjoyed getting to know and work with teachers, administrative staff, board and committee members on financial matters that will help to preserve, protect, and ensure the financial sustainability of MSGL for years to come.